How the Militarization of the Internet is Changing Warfare 204
puddingebola writes in with a link to a New York Times article about how the militarization of the internet is changing contemporary warfare. "The decision by the United States and Israel to develop and then deploy the Stuxnet computer worm against an Iranian nuclear facility late in George W. Bush's presidency marked a significant and dangerous turning point in the gradual militarization of the Internet. Washington has begun to cross the Rubicon. If it continues, contemporary warfare will change fundamentally as we move into hazardous and uncharted territory. It is one thing to write viruses and lock them away safely for future use should circumstances dictate it. It is quite another to deploy them in peacetime. Stuxnet has effectively fired the starting gun in a new arms race that is very likely to lead to the spread of similar and still more powerful offensive cyber-weaponry across the Internet. Unlike nuclear or chemical weapons, however, countries are developing cyber-weapons outside any regulatory framework."
This needs to stop (Score:5, Informative)
This hasnt been proven beyond reasonable doubt. Even though we all think US/Isreal are the curprits, all articles should start with an appropriate preface. This really needs to stop.
What utter tripe (Score:5, Informative)
What complete and utter tripe! The Chinese, Russians and any number of other countries crossed the proverbial Rubicon many, many years ago. If the submitter is so naive as to think that this was the first example of state sponsored computer hacking against another state than the submitter needs to go to Defcon or any other security convention. Get real, get a clue.
Re:Big difference between 'cyberwar' and real war (Score:5, Informative)
Technically, only Iran may possibly have violated the non-proliferation treaty. Pakistan, India, and Israel never signed on to it so were perfectly within their rights to develop nukes. North Korea formally withdrew before testing their nuke, though they probably did violate the treaty prior to that withdrawal.
Iran is probably violating it, since they are a signatory, have not withdrawn, and almost certainly are developing a nuclear weapon.
Re:Big difference between 'cyberwar' and real war (Score:2, Informative)
Almost certainly they are NOT developing nuclear weapon, as was repeatedly confirmed by Israel [haaretz.com] and US [latimes.com] intelligence agencies, among others.
Re:What utter tripe (Score:2, Informative)
2009, if not prior
Cyber-security is seen as a major vulnerability, with the US Defence Department spending more than $100 million (£69 million) in the past six months repairing various types of damage caused by cyber attacks.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5126584/China-and-Russia-hack-into-US-power-grid.html